Former Cowboy DT Terrell McClain may be on his way back to Dallas. McClain, who can play at the 1-technique spot, was a key component to the defensive line rotation in both the 2014 and the 2016 division winning teams. The Cowboys certainly need to address the interior defensive line and bringing him back would help but would it be enough? Certainly not!
For years the Cowboys have been bargain shopping for free agent defensive tackles as a band aid solution for a clear position of need. The one time they made somewhat of a splash was when they signed former pro-bowler Henry Melton in 2014. Melton was signed at a reasonable price after coming off of a significant injury but the gamble failed to pay dividends and he was let go after the 2015 season. In the draft Jerry Jones and co. have only targeted undersized DT’s with obvious pass rush capabilities and have refused to spend high draft picks on big, run stuffing defensive tackles. As a result of this prejudice, the Cowboys have spent just one top 100 draft pick on a defensive tackle (Maliek Collins, pick #67 in 2016) since 2001! By comparison, the Cowboys have invested heavily in Defensive Ends in an attempt to bolster their pass rush. They have spent high draft picks in recent years on players like Tyrone Crawford, Demarcus Lawrence, Randy Gregory, Charles Tapper and Taco Charlton. In a public relations nightmare, they also spent significant money on free agent Greg Hardy in 2015 only to realize that his major character concerns far exceeded his immense talent. Despite all of the effort to address the pass rush, the Cowboys have never finished in the top 10 in sacks since 2011. While they have been modestly improving their sack totals in recent years, no one can deny that in key moments the pass rush has proved to be lacking. The most obvious examples were against Aaron Rodgers in the 2014 and 2016 playoff losses. Perhaps it is time that the Cowboys change their approach and instead of trying to strike gold and find another “War daddy”, they should emulate what other successful teams do to address their pass rush.
It is not a huge secret that most successful quarterbacks will step up into the pocket to avoid the rush from edge defenders and deliver the ball. In order to generate pressure on a quarterback, a team must create pressure off the edge and on the interior of the line as well. The Cowboys know it, and that is why they have bolstered their interior offensive line and also why they value a three-technique who can generate pressure. What they tend to ignore is that a big defensive tackle that can take on blockers and push the pocket is just as valuable in improving the pass rush. Other teams in the league appear to understand this better than the Cowboys. Since 2014, the majority of the teams that have finished top 10 in sacks have spent MULTIPLE top 100 draft picks on defensive tackles from 2012-2017. I had previously mentioned that the Cowboys have not used high draft picks on DT’s recently and that they have also not finished in the top 10 in sacks for several years. Of those teams that have not spent multiple picks on defensive tackles and still managed to finish in the top 10 in sacks during that period, almost all of them had pro-bowl calibre players at defensive tackle that they had acquired either through the draft, free agency or via trade. Teams such as the Buffalo Bills with Marcel Dareus and Kyle Williams, the Houston Texans with Vince Wilfork, the Minnesota Vikings with Linval Joseph, the Arizona Cardinals with Calais Campbell, the Cincinnati Bengals with Geno Atkins, the Detroit Lions with Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley, the Rams with Aaron Donald and Michael Brockers and the Jaguars with Calais Campbell, Malik Jackson and Marcel Dareus. It is extremely rare for a team to generate sacks without investing in the defensive tackle position, especially for a team with a 4-3 defense like the Dallas Cowboys.
Signing Terrel McClain would definitely help the Cowboys and they already have some promising talent with players like Maliek Collins, David Irving and Lewis Neal; But, unless a real effort is made to invest in the defensive tackle position, I do not expect that the Cowboys pass rush will join the league’s elite.
All data and statistics verified and confirmed from https://www.pro-football-reference.com/
*Photo by Kieth Allison https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode